Sunday, March 06, 2011

Weekly Observations - week ending March 5, 2011



This is our weekly round-up of the tidbits that didn't make it to a post of their own, but are worth noting, along with news items that we've covered that may need a second look.

- HLN's Robin Meade performed songs from her upcoming album last night at a charity event in Nashville, Tennessee to benefit Abintra Montessori School. Meade's album will be released exclusively at Target stores in the US this June.

- After "reformatting" Parker Spitzer, could John King, USA be CNN's next program to undergo a makeover? The New York Post has details on a couple of pilots CNN has taped. (Via ICN)

- CNN International's Hala Gorani was a guest on News/Talk WSB Radio in Atlanta on Friday. Ms Gorani shared her experiences of reporting within Egypt recently, and offered some analysis on the current situation across several other Mid-East countries. You can listen to the audio from the discussion here.

- Vanity Fair writer James Wolcott serves up this less than flattering piece on Piers Morgan. TV Newser notes Morgan's response to the article.

- Mark Haviland, marketing director of CNN International (Europe, Middle East & Africa), sits down with MarketingWeek for a Q&A.

- Jon Stewart examines CNN's use of social media and latest attempts at engaging viewers.

- Ben Wedeman and his CNN crew were almost caught up in a bombing incident in Libya earlier this week. Details and video from CNN.

- Jeanne Moos celebrates 30 years with CNN.

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:52 PM

    Did you guys know about the Tom Foreman
    special called 'Stories Reported". Where are
    the promos. If I had not been watching Don
    Lemon tonight, I would never have known
    about this show. Is this now a new show
    that is airing on CNN ?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9:00 PM

    Let's be honest. CNN is a train wreck. CNN made
    2 big mistakes that can eventually lead to the
    downfall of CNN. Hiring Eliot Spitzer & Piers
    Morgan did nothing but make the ratings worse
    for CNN.MSNBC is starting to have some distance
    away from CNN in the ratings. It is amazing that
    360 is even in the game at 10 when there are
    fewer viewers ,but some how it is competitive in
    the demo.It is obvious that someone was
    betting on 360, the news show , not topping
    Parker Spitzer or Piers Morgan. That was
    the wrong assumption. They were even crazy
    enough to put Piers Morgan's face in the
    Egypt promos. Big mistake. The man can't
    even conduct a decent live interview with
    celebs and we are suppose to trust him
    to do hard news. Not.


    CNN should never have let Eliot Spitzer & Piers
    Morgan handle breaking news. It has destroyed
    CNN's credibility & journalistic reputation.CNN
    had their journalists touting an entertainment
    show and not focusing on the news. Vanity
    Fair is right, How can someone as bad as
    Piers Morgan end up with a show in prime
    time on CNN ? What were they thinking?
    Management bet the network on Piers Morgan.
    In many ways it looks like CNN was trying to
    sink the news shows by not even running
    ads for several shows and heavily promoting
    Piers Morgan. Like it or not Morgan has
    become the face of CNN and it seems as
    though they are no longer a news channel.
    Right now the network is a failure and they
    keep hiring more pundits instead of reporters.
    First they try to bring back Crossfire and now
    the rumors are they are trying bring back the
    Capitol Gang. Really CNN.



    CNN has essentially created another problem
    for itself. Clearly the promos oversold Piers
    Morgan. Will you believe anything you see
    on CNN since they fed us something that
    is not true and you may fool viewers once
    but you won't get that chance again.

    It's the misuse of social media on CNN. It
    is no different than reading e-mails on
    local news and that is another problem
    for CNN their gimmicks make them look
    like bad local news. Somewhere along the
    line somebody forgot they are CNN as
    Jon Stewart keeps trying to tell them. They
    are afflicting so much damage upon CNN
    that will take years to fix. Will the suits be
    willing to cancel Spitzer and Morgan or will
    they keep denying they've really screwed
    things up at CNN.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10:28 AM

    We are hoping CNN will hire George
    Stroumboulopoulos from CBC, If CNN
    is trying to get younger viewers to
    watch the news he would be their man.
    It was originally called The Hour and
    it was packed with interviews and news
    segments. Not sure if they could get
    him away from CBC but CNN'ers have
    been on the show. It is now just half
    an hour but it is news and interviews.
    If CNN could get him to do an hour
    long show that would be great. Put
    Strombo ,as he is known ,on at 8 as
    a clear alternative for viewers. Once
    you watch the show you are hooked.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous12:34 PM

    CNN needs to put a diverse group of their female
    journalists & reporters up against Rachel Maddow
    without politics more like The Talk rather than
    the View. First and foremost CNN must fix it's
    women problem. In 2011 why would you go
    with 3 males in prime time. It is the 21st century
    and women are the majority population. Cable
    news needs a women's news show with smart
    intelligent talk. Just have one permanent host
    but rotate all of the female talent from CNN,
    HLN & CNN Espanol.CNN should never had
    make it seem like Kathleen Parker was the
    reason for the poor ratings for Parker Spitzer
    It was both of them. Come up with a catchy
    title and use music that you know women
    can relate to using songs to open the show,
    music for bumps & a goodbye song. The
    playlist is endless. CNN needs better counter
    programming and not offer what is already
    on one of the other networks. Be original.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous6:57 PM

    I found out about Strombo on Twitter. He is
    the Jon Stewart of Canada and the only late
    night show in Canada. Not sure if he would
    be interested in CNN but he is very interested
    in the news. CNN has to do something to get
    back in the game.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous8:17 PM

    Eliot Spitzer & Piers Morgan are out of their
    leagues. Game over for CNN. Can you say backlash.
    The Vanity Fair article is the first of many negative
    stories coming out about CNN. Americans clearly
    have gotten a raw deal courtesy CNN. Whomever
    is in charge of running CNN can't be in denial
    much longer. The writing is on the wall. MSNBC
    is giving CNN a real whipping.CNN has become
    ratings repellent.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous2:34 PM

    The Strombo dude is pretty good. Go online
    and watch the show. Dude had Hillary Clinton
    on his show. Good interviewer.I am now hooked.
    Someone this good will never be hired by CNN.

    ReplyDelete